POL POT HAD HIS WHORES, NIXON HAD HIS WHORES, HITLER HAD HIS WHORES. YOU CAN'T HAVE ABUSE OF POWER WITHOUT A BUNCH OF WHORES.FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Kamal Namaa and Raheem Salman (Reuters) report,
"Tens of thousands of Sunni Muslims blocked Iraq's main trade route to
neighboring Syria and Jordan in a fourth day of demonstrations on
Wednesday against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki." Is this about
Nouri's refusal to implement the Erbil Agreement? Is it about his
refusal to maintain a power-sharing government? His inability to follow
the Constitution and nominate people to the posts of Minister of
Defense, Minister of National Security and Minister of Interior? Is it
about the corrupt arms deal with Russia?

No,
all of those problems already existed. As Ayad Allawi (leader of
Iraqiya) has pointed out, Nouri loves to create new crises in order to
distract from his inability to govern and to meet the basic needs of the
Iraqi people. This crisis was created last week. Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reported:

Iraq's
Finance Minister Rafei al-Essawi said Thursday that "a militia force"
raided his house, headquarters and ministry in Baghdad and kidnapped 150
people, and he holds the nation's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki,
responsible for their safety.

Members
of the al-Essawi's staff and guards were among those kidnapped from the
ministry Thursday, the finance minister said. He also said that his
computers and documents were searched at his house and headquarters. He
said the head of security was arrested Wednesday at a Baghdad checkpoint
for unknown reasons and that now the compound has no security.

After morning prayers,Kitabat reports,
protesters gathered in Falluja to protest the arrests and Nouri
al-Maliki. They chanted down with Nouri's brutality and, in a move that
won't change their minds, found themselves descended upon by Nouri's
forces who violently ended the protest. Before that, Al Mada reports, they were chanting that terrorism and Nouri are two sides of the same coin. Kitabat also reports
that demonstrations also took place in Tikrit, Samarra, Ramdia and
just outside Falluja with persons from various tribes choosing to block
the road connecting Anbar Province (Falluja is the capitol of Anbar)
with Baghdad. Across Iraq, there were calls for Nouri to release the
bodyguards of Minister of Finance Rafie al-Issawi. Alsumaria notes demonstrators in Samarra accused Nouri of attempting to start a sectarian war.

AP notes
of today's protest in Falluja, "In al-Issawi's hometown of Fallujah,
some demonstrators covering their faces with red-checkered traditional
tribal headdress carried pistols under their clothes. Others held flags
from the era of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein and those now being
raised by Syrian anti-government rebels." AP has a slide show here. On the Ramadi protest, Ammon News adds, :"Around 2,000 protestors blocked a main highway leading to Syria and Jordan in Ramadi in western Iraq on Sunday." AFP notes that Ramadi protestors were composed of many different sections, "including local officials, religious and tribal leaders." Aswat al-Iraq notes that both protests resulted in armed guards in heavy numbers being sent to 'observe' the protests.

And now today. Alumaria reports that in Ramadi today, tens of thousands demonstrated. It's being called "Dignity Day" and "Wednesday Dignity." And, AFP explains,
the protests managed to close down "the main road to Syria and
Jordan." They also note that Minister of Finance al-Essawi was present
at the protest in Ramadi "and pledged to take a representative of the
protesters 'to negotiate with Baghdad'." Adam Schreck and Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) add, "He appeared before Wednesday's rally and was held aloft by the crowds." AFP notes that some demonstrators made clear that negotiations were not enough and chanted, "We only want a revolution."

Alsumaria notes
that security forces were out in full force but states it was to
protect those demonstrating. There is a good picture of the crowd here but an even better one here.
This is seen as another attack by Nouri on Iraqiya (which came in first
in the 2010 parliamentary elections while Nouri's State of Law came in
second) and as an attack on Sunnis -- Rafaie al-Issawi is both Sunni and
a member of Iraqiya. Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) provides
this perspective, "Many Sunnis see the arrest of the finance minister's
guards as the latest in a series of moves by Shiite Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki against their sect and other perceived political
opponents. Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, one of the country's
highest-ranking Sunni politicians, is now living in exile in Turkey
after being handed multiple death sentences for allegedly running death
squads - a charge he dismisses as politically motivated." Al Jazeera notes
that Tareq sees similiarites and that they spoke with the Vice
President on Monday and he declared, "On the ground, al-Maliki in fact,
on a daily basis [is governing in a] sectarian way. We don't have any
option but to advocate and defend ourselves."

Nouri can't protect Iraqis from attacks and now he can't even protect them from the elements. All Iraq News notes that Baghdad is receiving the most rainfall it's seen in thirty years. Alsumaria adds
that the last days alone have seen the amount of rainfall Baghdad
usually receives in a full year (note the picture of the three men
walking down the street with water up to their knees). Kitabat notes
that the rain is destroying the infrastructure (check out the photo of
the man who's apparently trying to get home with bags of groceries).

This
is not just due to rainfall. This is also the result of Iraq's
crumbling infrastructure -- infrastructure Nouri al-Maliki has had six
years to address and he's done nothing. When you allow the sewage and
drainage systems to crumble, you get standing water. AP speaks
with various residents with complaints including that the flooding has
left them with no electricity and Abu Ibrahim states, "The heavy rain
and lack of services the muncipality of Baghdad should provide to
citizens led to this catastrophe. No good sewage, no drainage caused
this bad situation." AFP points out,
"The heavy rain spurred the government to declare Wednesday a national
holiday, the fourth time this year it has been forced to do so because
of bad weather. The other three were due to heat during Iraq's boiling
summer."

Alsumaria notes
yesterday's rains have caused 3 deaths and two people to be injured in
Baghdad -- two deaths from a house collapsing due to the rain and one
from electrical death (with two more injured in that as well) and that
main streets in the capital are sinking. All Iraq News notes Baghdad has been placed on high alert because of the torrential rains.

You could mistake Baghdad for Venice in this All Iraq News photo essay which notes that students are forced to walk through the high standing water to get to schools. They also note
of Tuesday's rainfall: Baghdad had the most yesterday (67 mm) followed
by Hilla, Azizia and Karbala (rainfall was also recorded in Samawa,
Rifai and Basra -- of those three, Basra was the highest and Baghdad's
rainfall was three times Basra's). It's not just Baghdad. Alsumaria notes that after ten house collapses in Wasit Province village, the Iraqi Red Crescent began evacuating the entire village. Dar Addustour notes Nouri issued a statement yesterday that he's going to oversee a committee that will try to address the situation.

In Iraq, the rains have been falling with significant consequences. Tuesday, All Iraq News reported
that the rest of the week would be rainy and foggy. And Iraq had
already seen heavy rain fall. Sadr City was one of the areas
effected. Joseph Muhammadwi and Mahmoud Raouf (Al Mada) reported
on the flooding of Sadr City and included a photo of the water up to
the frame of a mini-van. Despite the flooding and continuing heavy
rains, traffic police stand outside directing vehicles. One resident
jokes that Nouri can replace the food-ration cards with free small
boats. The water's flooded the streets and also gone into homes and
schools and a makeshift bridge of bricks has been constructed to allow
access to one school. Dar Addustour noted
that many of the cities, such as Kut, have been hit with the heavy
rains. Baghdad residents protested the lack of public services --
proper sanitation (i.e. drainage) would alleviate a great deal of the
standing water. Nouri's had six years to address Baghdad's sewer
system and done nothing. AFP reports
today the heavy rains in Kut led to houses collapsing resulting in the
death of six children and leaving one adult male injured.

But now, a month later, Nouri is going to deal with the problem?

That crisis is only one of the many problems Nouri is currently facing. October 9th,
Nouri was strutting across the world stage as he inked a $4.2 billion
weapons deal with Russia. The deal is now iffy if not off (an Iraqi
delegation went to Russia at the start of the month to see if the deal
could be salvaged) and it went down in charges of corruption. Among
those said to be implicated in the corruption is Nouri's own son. All Iraq News reports
that State of Law is attempting to remove Nouri's name from the list of
those Parliament is investigating for the corruption in that deal. In
addition, Al Mada reports that Nouri is refusing to answer questions from the Parliament relating to that arms deal.